The way Sam told it
by LupinsGirlSA
Summary: Something, somewhere had gone very wrong and his old friend and this little girl were somehow in the thick of it. A take on what happened on the night of the fire all those years ago.


Disclaimer: I own nothing. The Blacklist and all its characters belong to NBC and Jon Bokenkamp. You can't sue me, I don't have any money.

Authors note: Pretty much disregards everything post season one. If some of this seems a bit out of character, I apologise. Any and all comments would be greatly appreciated.

-/-/-/-/-/

*ping*

The sound of the microwave yanked him back to reality and he pulled the two steaming mugs out, adding a healthy glug of whiskey to both before giving the malty concoction a stir.

Something drifted back to him from his training days, something about not giving alcohol to somebody who may be in shock.

Hell, it's never done either of them much harm, why stop now.

He set one of the mugs down on the formica tabletop in front of the other man and waited for some response. He watched as the man slowly extracted a hand from the blanket, wrapping it around the mug, but not lifting it to his lips. The hand wasn't shaking so badly anymore and Sam took this as a positive sign.

"Red?"

The man didn't respond, but he was pretty sure he was listening.

"Care to tell me what the hell happened?"

He tiredly rubbed his face and finally looked up. The bloodshot eyes took a moment to focus, but when they did they didn't appear to hold any answers.

"Let's start with the girl. Who is she Red, where are her parents?"

"Dead."

"Who is she?"

"Her name is Elizabeth. Lizzie."

"You know, you're talking, but you're saying squat."

The man gave a small smile at that, but it promptly turned into a grimace of pain.

"You need medical attention, Red."

The other man held out his hand to stop him.

"I'll get myself checked out later, I have more important things to worry about now."

More important things... Well hell.

"Red, you ain't superman. Your back looks like someone took a blowtorch to it. If you were in a fire you probably have smoke inhalation to worry about too, never mind what could happen if those wounds get infected."

"Sam, I'll take care of it later. I know someone who can help me."

"Who? And you still haven't told me who the kid is, Red."

"Her name is Elizabeth. Her parents are dead, Sam, she doesn't have any family left, I had to get her away from there, you were the closest."

He glanced down the hallway at the closed door. He had carried the sleeping girl in from the car and laid her down in his room, the poor thing didn't even stir and he suddenly wondered if the other man had drugged her. He decided it didn't matter right now.

"I need to leave, Sam, I need to get away from here. I don't think the police are going to look this far tonight, but anything is possible."

"Reddington, you pitch up here out of the blue in the middle of the night, out of your mind and covered in burns with some little girl in tow, you don't want to go to hospital, you don't want to tell me who she is, you claim her parents are dead... Why are the police after you? Did you kidnap her? Did you kill her parents? Just tell me what happened, Red. What can I do to help you?"

"Sam, believe me, the less you know the better."

"Red..."

"Please, Sam, I want to tell you, but it's a risk I'm not willing to take."

He finished his drink in a few long swallows and got up. It was a slow process, he may have claimed to be fine, but the injuries were clearly taking a lot out of him.

It had been a long night.

"I need to leave, Sam."

He considered for a moment and came to a decision.

"Red, leave her with me."

The man looked like he might put up a fight.

"Sam, I can't-"

"Leave her with me, Red. You're in no fit state to take care of a little girl right now. Hell, I'm not even sure if you can take care of yourself at the moment. Let me look after her. She'll be safe here with me. If needs be I can move her somewhere else, maybe get her out of the country, but for now she's safe."

"Sam..."

"Go, Red, go get yourself some help, you're of no use to anyone in this state, you need a doctor. Get yourself checked out. She's safe with me."

Raymond Reddington was a formidable man, but he could only take so much, and it seemed as if Sam had pushed him just far enough.

"Fine. Sam, I can watch over her from a distance, keep an eye on her... Financially you'll be fine, I'll make sure of it, I just need to..."

"I know Red, just worry about yourself for now."

They said their goodbyes and he watched the car until it disappeared into the night. He didn't know what would happen now. He didn't even know if he would ever see Reddington again.

There was something going on.

Something, somewhere had gone very wrong and his old friend and this little girl were somehow in the thick of it.

He closed his eyes for a moment and did something he hadn't done in years. He prayed.

-/-/-/-/-/

Ok, so this isn't great. I think Sam was probably one of the few people who knew the real story, but I just needed to get this out of my head. I may try to improve this at some point. Please review, love it, hate it, just let me know.


End file.
